Adrian Frater, News Editor
These energetic revellers having a ball on the side of one of the trailers during Sunday night's Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival, in Montego Bay. - PHOTO BY ADRIAN FRATER
WESTERN BUREAU:
MONTEGO BAY was transformed into a dancing city for just over five and a half hours on Sunday night, when thousands of revellers made the western city's leg of the Supreme Ventures of Jamaica Carnival a memorable soca blast.
The crowd, which swelled to Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest proportions as the night progressed, had Byron Lee and the Dragonaires working overtime as the dancing mass of human traffic took almost three hours to cover the just over half a mile 'Road March' journey down the Hip Strip as the enticing mix of soca and reggae flavoured music erupted from the three trailers unleashing music.
With the eight costumed groups, which included dancers on stilts, occupying the roadways, the supporting cast of predominantly female revellers was much more creative, climbing up the side of buildings and crawling onto the bonnets of parked cars, as they took fun and frolic to another level.
The trailer caravan, which had the Byron Lee and the Dragonaires truck as the centre of attention, was equally exciting as Jomo, Oscar B, Cindy Lewis, Ashley Martin and MC Jerry D set a scorching dancing pace and fed the crowd a rich diet of excitement.
When the colourful caravan finally settled at the Old Hospital Concert site at approximately 12:55 a.m., it was a jam-packed affair. The perspiration-soaked revellers crammed into every available space, making it difficult for some members of the gyrating crowd to really 'get on bad'.
After an exhilarating face-off among the costumed groups, which resulted in Margaritaville and Sandals sharing the Mayor of Montego Bay trophy, as the joint top group, the excitement stepped up a notch with the popular Miss Tiny Winey Contest, which saw 17-year old Monique McCreath, of Tucker, near Montego Bay, out-dancing four other contestants for the title.
PANDEMONIUM
It was near pandemonium when the MC introduced Rising Star winner Christopher Martin who hit centre-stage with a bang, belting out songs such as, Longing For, Best Friend, and Bring it on home. The crowd went delirious with excitement when the gyrating Jomo joined him for an awesome rendition of, Tempted to Touch.
Martin's departure paved the way for the full Byron Lee and the Dragonaires' assault. After being advised that the police had extended the cut-off time by an extra half and hour, they really let loose. The crowd accepted their invitation to "get something and wave", sending soca rags into the air.
While Ashley and Cindy were spared the physical wrath of the fans, Oscar B and Jomo had no such luck as the probing fingers of the delicately petite revellers near the front of stage battled with some of their gorgeously robust counterparts for space on their bodies, especially the energetic Jomo, who seemed ready to subject himself to their inspection.
